Feather decoration "Crow Belt". One horizontal and 2 vertical strips with attached feathers, bird bodies, animal tail, arrow shafts, etc. Made of the feathers of the crow, eagle (any of the 4 kinds), magpie, and tail of the coyote.
Donor:
David Ives Bushnell Jr., G. B. Gordon, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, and W. C. Farabee
Collection place:
Central Plains, Great Plains, North America
Verbatim coll. place:
; Central Plains
Culture or time period:
Umoⁿhoⁿ
Collector:
Francis La Flesche
Collection date:
1901-1902
Taxon:
Accipitridae
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Belts (costume accessories)
Function:
5.3 Objects relating to the Secular and Quasi-religious Rites, Pageants, and Drama
Accession date:
1904 and September 8, 1902
Context of use:
This decoration represents the highest grade of warrior; worn at the gatherings of the Hethushka Society and by the warriors chosen to act as soldiers to hold the tribe in order during the trial buffalo hunts. Worn at the back between the hips, fastened
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
1 centimeters, length 88.5 centimeters, and width 38 centimeters
Comment:
The arrow shafts represent the arrows used to shoot the enemy and also the enemy himself. The 2 pendants represent the feathers fallen from the carrion birds fighting over the bodies of the slain enemies (also represented by the magpie). The coyote is used by war parties for divining purposes; it is also always the first of the carnivorous animals to scent a battlefield. The owl stands for the night which typifies death. This decoration is called "the crow" because the crow is always the first of the carrion birds to find a battlefield. This decoration represents the highest grade of warrior; worn at the gatherings of the Hethushka Society and by the warriors chosen to act as soldiers to hold the tribe in order during the trial buffalo hunts. Worn at the back between the hips, fastened by a leather strap around the waist. The two pendants of eagle feathers hang nearly to the heels. The two arrow shafts stand at an acute angle from the back. Photo: probably 13/99. Published: See also Plate 55, p. 441. Exhibited: UCLMA, "Plains Indians", 1971. References: P. 441, "The Omaha Tribe", BAE 27; Fletcher & LaFlesche.
Loans:
S1973-1974 #65: Oakland Museum of California (March 8, 1974–April 24, 1974)